Two Brothers

Two brothers were getting on in years. Envious of his brother, the older of the two asked God: Why has my brother been blessed with wealth and happiness and I with nothing? All of my life I never missed a single day without saying my morning and evening prayers. My church attendance has been perfect. I have made not a single decision in my life without first calling Your Name. And now, as I am nearing my final days, I pray to you day and night. Yet, I can hardly afford to pay my meager rent. My brother, on the other hand, drinks and gambles all night long. Not once have I heard him in prayer. Yet, my brother has more money than he can count. So I ask you God not to punish my brother, but to tell me why have you allowed him such wealth and happiness while I have been left with nothing? “Because,” God replied, “You are such a self-righteous pain-in-the-neck!”
God’s Word is sound, reliable, trustworthy, perfect and unchanging. Those who try to second-guess it or exchange it or replace it or improve upon it are courting disaster. The Word from God is that each one of us, without exception, needs to do better, think better, pray better, share better, care better, love better and live better than ever before. Each one of us, without exception, needs to become a more creative, more productive instrument of God’s redemptive love. Each one of us, without exception, needs to become a more dedicated, more determined, more devoted follower of Christ. Each one of us, without exception, needs to become more – much more – than a self-righteous pain-in-the neck! From the very beginning, Jesus clearly stated that his call to us is to follow him. His appeal to us is to transform our lives. These two factors are inseparable. To follow Jesus is to change your life, necessarily! You cannot be the person he wants you to be apart from him. To be a follower of Jesus you must let go of everything you have crowded in at the center of your life that is not God-centered! This is not a once-in-a-lifetime transformation Jesus is calling for. It is an ongoing, continuing change, a process of growth and development that stretches over your entire life! Emerson once said, “People imagine they communicate their virtue only by overt actions and words. They do not see that virtue or its opposite emits a breath at every moment!” Think about it!!